Cooking vessels, such as saucepans, frying pans, pots, etc. are often covered with a lid during cooking in order to reduce the amount of heat and moisture escaping from the interior of the vessel. This causes food to be cooked faster, reduces the overall energy used during cooking, and holds in moisture to prevent food from drying out. However, lids for cooking vessels often comprise a metal saucer connected to a metal or plastic handle. These commonly used cooking vessel lids can be very dangerous to grab during cooking because the saucer and handle elements are thermally conductive and contacting the lid after it has been on top of a cooking vessel for an extended period of time can cause burns to the user's hands. In addition, steam escaping from the vessel or condensation dripping from the underside of the lid, can also burn the user.
As a solution to this problem, people commonly use a dishtowel or oven mitt to protect their hand when removing a lid from a cooking vessel. While this practice may sometimes prevent a user from burning his or her hands, it can introduce new problems, such as accidentally dropping a portion of a dishtowel into the food being cooked, or accidentally dropping a portion of the dishtowel onto the stove, which may cause the dishtowel to catch on fire. Also, dishtowels and oven mitts are not always clean which presents a sanitary concern should the towel or mitt touch the food or even the chef's hands.